


and i rejected the entire experience

by merewiowing



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-18 00:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3549386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merewiowing/pseuds/merewiowing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a name neither of them can attach to a person.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and i rejected the entire experience

Juri had expected to be done with this matter in an hour. Two, maximum. It shouldn’t be hard to look into a school database error.

And yet, it’s been hours since they started. Everyone else has left the room, leaving the other computers turned off for the night. Being surrounded by so many machines is making her a little uneasy. Unlike Miki, Juri isn’t very good at using a computer. She can turn one on, maybe do some very basic things, but in the end she’s much more comfortable with a simple word processor.

Not to mention, the databases Miki has been looking through are far from basic. Juri can plainly see that even he is getting tired by them. Miki hasn’t said anything, of course, but in the artificial light of the screen Juri can plainly see a furrow in his brow. Another tell is the way his fingers tap against the desk. If he had a hand free, he would probably be clicking his stopwatch right now.

Miki scrolls through another long table and sighs. “There is no record of a person with this name ever attending Ohtori,” he says. “Or being employed here, for that matter. I’ve checked everywhere.” He leans back in his chair and rubs at his temple.

 _It isn’t like Miki to admit defeat so easily_ , Juri thinks.  
  
“I’ve never heard of anyone with a name like this before.” She sits down on a chair next to him. The chair makes an oddly irritating noise as her weight settles into it. She’s almost surprised it doesn’t echo in the room.

“Perhaps whoever wrote it down misspelled it,” she adds, hoping it sounds reassuring.  
  
Miki stares into space in front of him, thinking. “We could look for someone with her name, I suppose,” he says after a moment. He reaches for the keyboard, pulls it closer, and quickly taps a few buttons. Juri’s eyebrows rise a little – she can’t help but be impressed he doesn’t have to look to know what to type. It must make work so much faster.

“I found someone. An interior decorator. She has her own webpage.”  
  
“Maybe it’s a relative.” Juri wishes she could read what’s on screen from where she’s sitting, but the angle doesn’t allow it. The colours look all distorted, it’s hard to tell where the characters even are. “I don’t suppose there’s anything about her personal life?”  
  
Miki scrolls through the site without saying anything. The monitor’s light is making his face look discoloured, as if he’s sick.

“It says here she’s single and doesn’t have children.”  
  
“That’s a dead end, then.”  
  
Miki leans back again and turns to look at her. “I think you were right when you said someone made a mistake. A person wouldn’t just vanish like that.”  
  
“It’s the first time the school has made a mistake like that, though.” Juri can feel irritation bubbling inside her. _All this wasted time._ “Let’s report this tomorrow morning.”

 

 

After they’ve turned the machine off, left the room, and returned the key, Miki says, with just a hint of embarrassment in his voice, “I keep thinking I’ve seen or heard that name before, though. Here, at school. It feels like it belongs to someone I knew.”

“Maybe you’re thinking of some friend of Kozue’s,” Juri offers. She and that girl aren’t close, but she knows Miki’s sister is surrounded by many people. It’s possible that there’s a Tenjou in her friend circle.

“Maybe,” he says. He doesn’t sound very sure of it, though.

 

 

When they part, he’s still muttering that name under his breath. Tenjou, Tenjou. _Tenjou_. Juri still can’t remember anyone like this.

After a while, she realises she’s been gripping her locket so tight her knuckles turned white. As if she were afraid it would fall off the chain. How strange.

 

 

When Juri wakes up next morning, the name ‘Tenjou’ is out of her mind.

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for a tumblr prompt meme some weeks/months ago. i remembered it the other day and decided to clean it up and expand a little.
> 
> utena's stay at ohtori and her subsequent disappearance must have been an administrative mess, don't you think


End file.
